


Rollercoaster, I Don't Say No

by kikitheslayer



Category: Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 12:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12013077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikitheslayer/pseuds/kikitheslayer
Summary: Chloe goes on a date with Benjamin. But he's not the one on her mind.





	Rollercoaster, I Don't Say No

“So,” said Benjamin, taking a sip of champagne, “don’t take this the wrong way, but this isn’t exactly how I pictured seeing you again.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, spreading her legs out over the picnic blanket. She just narrowly missed kicking over a tiered stand loaded with cupcakes. This annoyed her, so she purposefully flipped over the artisanal cheese platter. “I know, it’s totally lame. But June insisted on setting it up. She’s been planning it for basically the whole year you were deported.”

Benjamin laughed, gingerly righting the cheese platter and smearing a piece of bread with brie. “Maybe,” he said, his voice low, “she thinks that this will at least keep us out of the bathroom.” He straightened, setting down the bread and leaning close to her.

“Nah.” Chloe shoved his face away without looking at him. “Sorry, #6, I’m not really feeling my old rotation right now.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, holding up his hands, “I’m #6?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “I wasn’t going to keep you at #1, you were banned from the country. I wasn’t about to fly to Australia just for some strange.”

He shrugged. “Harsh but fair. So, why even agree to do this with me if you weren’t into it? Not even mentioning the fact that this is dangerously rom-com-esque.”

“I don’t know,” mused Chloe, looking up at the sky. “It was a break from routine, I guess. Recently, being at home with June has been, like, a total emotional rollercoaster ride, so I’ve been on this continual bender for…” She glanced down to where a watch would have gone. “About three months.”

“Jesus, aren’t you hungover?”

Chloe waved a hand, leaning forward to refill her champagne. “Nah, I’m actually pretty buzzed. When you’re this drunk, you actually have to wean yourself off or you might die.”

“Huh.” Then: “So, I don’t get it. What’s wrong with June?”

Chloe held up a finger, knocking her champagne back in one gulp. When she did speak, she sounded bitter. “Nothing’s wrong with her. That’s the problem. And, well, okay, there’s actually a lot wrong with her, like her sweaters and how recently she’s gotten into astrology, but that’s not the point.” She sighed. “Recently I just realized that I’m totally in love with her.”

“Wow,” said Benjamin, “that’s kind of a mood killer.”

“I know. For me, too.”

Benjamin took a bite of a salad and sat up. “Okay,” he said, “so, don’t take this the wrong way, but why aren’t you with her? I mean, James told me that once, just to prove to him you could, you got yourself legally certified to practice open heart surgery.”

“I forgot about that,” said Chloe. “That was a fun weekend. I’m also a licensed midwife.”

“You are?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything with it. Childbirth is icky.”

“That… wasn’t my point. What I was going to ask is, if you want June, why don’t you just go get her? You do it with everything else.”

“I don’t know,” said Chloe. “It’s complicated. She’s in this nebulous thing with Mark… We live together… Plus I’ve always told her I wasn’t a fan of the ladycave, so --”

“Sometimes,” Benjamin said, “you have to take risks for the people you care about. That’s how you know you care about them. They push you to be a better version of yourself.”

“That sounds scripted,” said Chloe, eyeing him. “Is that from Love Monster?”

“No, it’s from the movie I’m directing now. Love Wears Pleated Pants.”

Chloe shoved over the cupcake stand. “This date is over.”

\--

When the door opened, Chloe swirled around in her chair. Technically it was June’s swivel chair, but Chloe had rolled it out of her room and into the living room.

She steepled her fingers. “Well, well, well. If it isn't June Colburn.”

June shot her a strange look as she walked in. She took off her coat and walked to the closet. “Hey, Chloe. I didn't think you'd be here. You've been out so much and you had your date with Benjamin --” June whirled around. “Your date! How'd it go? Was it romantic?”

Chloe held a finger to her lips, and June stopped talking. Chloe shook her head. “June, June, June… Come sit with me.”

June looked skeptical. “On the… chair?”

Chloe nodded, holding out an arm.

June settled next to Chloe on the chair. Their thighs were pressed up against each other, and Chloe leaned in so that her head was resting atop June’s.

“You know,” said June, “I think this is the closest we’ve ever been. I always cuddled with my girlfriends in Indiana, but I always got the sense that you would… I don’t know, scratch my eyes out if I tried…”

Chloe sighed. “Okay, so that’s the thing. My date with Benjamin didn’t go well.”

June turned to face her. “It didn’t?”

Chloe shook her head. “No. I just -- I don’t have the same feelings for him I had a year ago.”

“Oh…” said June. then brightly, she added, “Well, that’s okay!” She nestled closer to Chloe. “Chloe, I really believe that you are going to meet a wonderful guy. Someone you like, who likes you. Who has a job, and a suit, and fire insurance…”

Chloe grimaced and rested her head in her hand. “Okay, I forgot how difficult this was going to be. June. How would you feel if I married some guy?”

June shrugged. “I’d be happy, duh. And okay, I would miss you. Because you’re my best friend, and you make my life fun. But it would be totally worth it to see you happy.” After a moment, she added, jokingly, “It’s not like you can marry me, right?”

“Oh, June!” cried Chloe. She tossed her hands in the air, “Read between the fucking lines! I don’t want to marry Benjamin, and I don’t want to marry your boring imaginary insured guy. I want to --”

“Party forever?”

“No! I want to marry you!”

Chloe looked straight ahead for what felt like ten minutes. Finally, June said, “So, this whole thing was really just your way of saying that you like me?”

“Yes.”

Quietly, June asked, “How long?”

Chloe decided that the fact that June was still around to ask her such idiotic questions was a good sign. “About three months.”

“Woah.”

“I know.”

June swallowed. After a moment, she said, “Mark and I are over.”

Chloe turned to look at her. “What?”

June nodded. “We thought we might try again, but last month I told him it wasn’t going to happen. Because… because I realized that I liked somebody else.”

Chloe took a shaky breath. “Who? If it’s Luthor, I have some very disappointing news.”

June looked up at her, smiling. “Read between the lines, dummy.”

And just like that, June slipped a hand into Chloe’s black hair and kissed her.

Chloe thought that June tasted like coffee and apple pie. 

And as for June? She thought that Chloe tasted, and felt, like champagne.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Rollercoaster" by Bleachers, but like, specifically the Charli XCX version.


End file.
